THE CAT RETURNS

Japan, 2002, 75 minutes, Colour.
English version: voices of Cary Elwes, Anne Hathaway, Peter Boyle, Tim Curry.
Directed by Hiroyuki Morita.

The Cat Returns is the only feature film by Japanese animator from Ghibli Studios, Hiroyuki Morita.

It is brief, 75 minutes, but most audiences will find it delightful, especially if they are fond of cats!

The story focuses on a young schoolgirl, Haru, who has some difficulties with her mother at home. On the way to school with a friend, she rescues a cat carrying a gift box from an oncoming lorry. It turns out that the cat is actually the Prince of the Cat Kingdom and he thanks her, promising her a reward.

There are some amusing moments when they give her a gift of a number of mice! However, like Alice in Wonderland, she is transported mysteriously to the world of cats, encountering a large, sometimes lazy, real cat, Muta, who accompanies her and helps her in many ways. She also encounters the Baron, a rather dapper cat who guides her.

She had previously met the King of the Cats who also promised her a reward and wants her to marry his son. There are many amusing adventures, some funny, some sentimental, as Haru and the cats move to the kingdom, and the court, with the King, the son, many ceremonies – with Haru becoming more like a cat.

After the adventures, Haru eventually goes home, like Alice coming from Wonderland, back to the real world, wiser after her adventures.